1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of data virtualization and more specifically to a system and method for using data virtualization coupled with a cloud-based file system that is shared among devices and integrated into the device operating system so as to unify the representation of files across devices for availability of and access to data across multiple devices a user might own.
2. Description of the Related Art
Competitive data synchronization products generally fall into one of two types: locally installed software for file replication across devices and online backup/storage based file replication across devices. The local install file replication software is installed on computers and makes sure that all devices with the same software have the same data physically replicated on each device. Once configured by the user, it is able to identify updates to files on one device and update the corresponding files on other devices. These products or services essentially duplicate all designated data between the devices being synchronized. Each file stored on N devices results in N duplicates of the same file. The online backup/storage based file replication software is a blend of software that installed on local devices along with online storage. The process requires that ALL designated data is stored online and is then in turn replicated across all devices that are connected to the online storage server. These services duplicate all designated data between devices being synchronized, AND store an additional copy on their servers. Each file stored on N devices results in N+1 duplicates of the same file.